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Real Madrid may be a long way off Barcelona, says John Toshack, but their season is far from over.

Last Updated: 17/12/12 10:11am

Mourinho: has conceded defeat in Real's quest to retain La Liga crown

Real's 2-2 stalemate at home to struggling Espanyol, coupled with league leaders Barcelona's 4-1 victory over second-placed Atletico Madrid has further dimmed Los Blancos' hopes of retaining the Spanish top-flight trophy.

"It is going to be a long hard winter for Real Madrid," said the ex-Wales, Swansea and Deportivo boss.

"But there are lots of things you have to do at Real Madrid and the club have a duty and an obligation to the 75,000 people who go to watch their matches.

Intentions

"You can always use the remaining months and matches to do something positive, like bringing young players through, plus the Champions League is still going on and they have the Copa del Rey, too".

Barcelona, meanwhile, fell behind to a Radamel Falcao strike at the Camp Nou on Sunday night, but then rallied, with Lionel Messi registering his 89th and 90th goals of 2012, full-back Adriano curling in a screamer and Sergio Busquets also netting.

"Atletico started off with good intentions and had their chances - three in the first 45 minutes - but Barcelona ground them down," added Toshack.

"Barcelona get goals from all over the place; often it's Messi but they can scrap (in the penalty area) and once they got in front they couldn't be stopped."

"Atletico had the two lines of four and a good set-up and they must be coming away thinking: 'How have we lost that 4-1?'

"But it shows that they are still a bit below Real Madrid and Barcelona - particularly Barcelona."